Deuces

Digging the Deuces

The other popular wild-card video poker game is Deuces Wild. Because it has four wild cards, it complicates the strategy that is necessary to succeed at the machines.

Just as in other varieties of video poker, it's important to note the pay table on Deuces Wild. But it's not as easy as with Jacks-or-better. Casino executives have discovered several different ways to alter the pay tables that will alter the payback percentages.

Deuces Wild Payback Percentages

The pay tables below are just three examples of Deuces Wild games available today. The small variations in the pay table are the reason for the variation in payback percentage for expert play.

Royal Flush 800 800 1,000

Four Deuces 200 200 200

Deuces Royal 25 25 25

Five-of-a-Kind 15 16 15

Straight Flush 9 13 9

Four-of-a-kind 5 4 4

Full House 3 3 3

Flush 2 2 2

Straight 2 2 2

Three-of-a-Kind 1 1 1

Payback Percentage 100.6% 96.8% 94.3%

Working the Deuces

The object of Deuces Wild, obviously, is to obtain the wild cards to get those valuable hands. But what does it mean when you start off the hand with Deuces?

Even in the highest paying version of Deuces Wild-at 100.6 percent-you will receive No Deuce hands 66 percent of the time, which means that 80 percent of your hands will be losers. Another 14 percent will be the minimum three-of-a-kind winner, which is actually just a push. So if you don't get a Deuce before the draw, you will actually win only six percent of the time.

When you get one Deuce in the initial hand-only 30 percent of the time-45 percent of your hands will be losers, and another 38 percent will get the three-of-a-kind push, leaving only 17 percent that will actually win. Another nine percent will be near-minimum winners as straights and flushes

Two Deuces in the initial hand-dealt only four percent of the time-means that you must take every advantage of this hand, despite the fact that 70 percent of these hands will wind up being flushes or lower. About one in four will end up as four-of-a-kind, and one in 98 will wind up as five-of-a-kind.

Deuces Strategy

The following strategy is a little more complicated that the other two version covered in this chapter. Some basic rules are not to play any machine that does not pay five-for-one for four-of-a-kind. And most important of all, even if you've got a shot at a natural royal, do not discard any Deuce!

1- Stand with any natural winning hand, except for a natural straight flush starting with Nine. Discard the Nine and go for the royal.

2- Draw one card to a straight flush.

3- Draw one card to a royal flush.

4- Draw two cards to a royal flush.

5- With two pair, discard one pair and draw three cards.

6- Draw one card to a flush.

7- Draw one card to a straight.

8- Draw to cards to a straight flush.

9- Draw three cards to a Queen-Jack, Ten-Jack, or Jack-Ten suited.

10- Draw two cards to a suited Six-Seven and a Deuce.

11- Draw one card to a three-card royal and one Deuce.

12- Draw one card to a four-card straight with one Deuce.

13- Stand on any winning hand with one Deuce. Break up a flush, straight or three-of-a-kind for any four-card royal flush, or four-card straight flush.

14- Draw one card to a suited Six-Seven or better with two Deuces.

15- Draw one card to a four-card royal with two Deuces.

16- Draw one card to four-of-a-kind with two Deuces.

17- Stand on five 10s or better with three Deuces.

18- Stand on royal flush with three Deuces.

19- Stand on five-of-a-king with four Deuces.

20-All other hands discard everything but Deuces.